


The Devil You Know

by JoleneMarselis



Category: The Night Manager (TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-30
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 02:34:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6405277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoleneMarselis/pseuds/JoleneMarselis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set post The Night Manager. Canon. Three years after Cairo went down, Angela Burr is still working in Intelligence when, one by one, people start being picked off at Whitehall. Nobody knows what is going on, though, so Angela and her team are asked to find out. Along the way, she runs into old friends... and enemies that still tread the old paths, unhindered by law enforcement. You see, according to Whitehall, it is easier to deal with the devil you know.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1.

“People do not just vanish.” That was what the Permanent Secretary, Miss Allen, stated.   
She was – of course – wrong, Angela thought, as she sat there listening to Miss Allen in a briefing that had taken over an hour already. A briefing that so far had not yielded any interesting information, just vague notions that were never clarified. Angela was starting to wonder what she was doing here.   
After all, people vanished every day... sometimes even with the help of British Intelligence... And, sometimes, “helped” by British Intelligence. They would simply get lost for eternity, like a bad penny rolled behind a hallway cabinet. By the time they turned up, nobody knew who they belonged to. Life would go on and no one would bat an eyelid.  
This was different though, apparently. People at River House were disappearing. Not the figure heads but, in the lower ranks, behind the scenes, it seemed the rats were being picked off, one by one. Gone. Without a trace. To make it even worse, when inquiries were made, it looked as if the missing people had never existed. And seeing none of the secret or semi-secret services had even the slightest clue about what was going on, that was a problem.  
Which was probably why they had called in Angela Burr and her team. Well, Angela Burr and her trusty wingman, Rob Singhal, who seemed to be feeling uncomfortable outside the office, shifting in his chair. Of course, the icy stare of the Permanent Secretary was enough to make most people squirm.  
And then, there was the girl that Miss Allen had insisted join the team a few months back: Tess Newman. Young, bright, serious, determined. Angela did not know what to make of her. She seemed genuine, not planted there to keep tabs on Angela. In fact, it was likely, Angela suspected, that Miss Allen had sidelined the girl to Angela's department because she feared the girl's ambition would one day bring her down. Tess worked incredibly hard and was very competent. Right now, Angela noticed, Tess was busy taking notes of everything that was said, like a good little girl on her first day of school. There was something starry eyed about her, though – she had not yet been tainted by the bitterness of reality. People like that were loose cannons. Once the novelty and the idealism wore off, they could go either way. Tess had yet to make her decision. Angela rather liked Tess, but she was worried how the girl would handle herself when the chips were down. After all things were never black and white. In fact, Angela had found, when it came to Whitehall, there only were murky shades of grey.  
“So what do you want me to do about it?” Angela asked. “At least tell me there are some leads.”  
Silence.   
Angela ran her fingers through her hair and sighed, thinking about how her daughter needed to be picked up at four. She hated the time-wasters around here. So, in a way, it was a good thing that at the bureau it was only her and Rob... and now Tess. Another sigh escaped her lips. Well, at least the girl liked to get on with things and was now anxiously tapping her pencil against the paper. She reminded Angela of herself at that age. And here Angela was now, doing pretty much the same job as the day she started. Sidelined by Miss Allen, and the people that had come before her. But she wasn't bitter now, was she? She sarcastically smiled inwardly. Had it been worth it in the end? Yes, definitely.   
“I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation, Angela. These people... they are not just disappearing – their entire history is being erased, like they never existed. Their employment records are gone. There is nothing left to identify them. If there hadn't been colleagues missing them, no one would even know they were gone.”  
“Surely there must be a paper trail? Something connecting the dots?”  
“In what century are you living, Angela? They have all gone digital. Saving the environment one tree at a time!” Miss Allen laughed at her own joke, a little too loudly. The woman had one of those annoying laughs that you could spot as fake a mile away. She had probably done one of those executive courses where they taught you that laughter was good for morale and relieved tension. However, no one was laughing with her, and the whole situation just became more awkward.  
“Do we have any idea where they disappeared to? Are they dead or alive?”  
“We don't know. No bodies have turned up so far. But it looks bad. One of the people that went missing... his colleague went to look in on him. The apartment looked untouched, as if the inhabitant had just popped round the corner and would return any moment. None of his clothes were missing. There was still tea on the table and dishes in the sink.”  
“How did this person know there were no clothes missing?” Tess spoke up. It was a good question, though perhaps a bit premature. It was still not clear why they were here, and Angela was beginning to doubt whether she actually wanted to know.  
“She knew the man... rather intimately,” Miss Allen explained. “Which is why it took her a while to come forward. She was the first to investigate this... problem, but got stuck on the lack of information.”  
Angela understood. Interdepartmental relationships were frowned uponseeing a lover's tiff could potentially lead to the leveling of a small country.  
“When can we speak to this person?” Tess continued.  
There was a pause. “You... can't. She… is not available for questioning.”  
“How many people are we talking about that are missing?” Rob now asked.  
“We aren't sure. Five at least, but it could be more. These five people were missed, but you know how it is down here. Many people walk around as faceless shadows. Sometimes even their relatives have no idea what they are up to. So they might get lost, but nobody knocks on our door because their spouse thinks they are bankers or something like that. We are looking into disappearances in the Greater London area to see if any of them are familiar to anyone around here. Problem is, we have to tread carefully in order not to create a mass panic among our own ranks.”  
Heaven forbid that anyone know what was going on here, of all places, Angela thought. This was getting them nowhere.“It sounds like you know nothing so far. What do you want from me? Isn't this something for the tech boys? Unless you want me to 'disappear' too and then see where these guys landed up.”  
“Now, there's an idea.” Another forced laugh.   
Angela wanted to slap the woman. Of course, there were plenty of secrets in this place... but they wanted her help, not the other way round, right? Why couldn't they just give her the information she needed? Why did she need to wrestle every word out of them? To be honest, she didn't give a damn about the tossers up here, and she was not about to put her neck on the line for them until she started getting some facts.  
“Do you want me on this case or not? I have got plenty of other things to do – I don't need this case.” That was an outright lie. Angela and her team had pretty much been twiddling their thumbs lately, and they badly needed the funding. But she would be damned if she would dance to Miss Allen's tune.   
“Yes, we want you. You have a... special characteristic... that most people here lack.”  
It was called integrity, Angela thought.  
“You will have an unlimited budget at your disposal. Hire anyone you like, do anything you want. Just get me results.”  
Unlimited budget. Those were two words Angela had never expected to hear from the Permanent Secretary. She nearly fell from her chair. They had to be very desperate.“So, who exactly is missing? Do you at least have a list of names for the ones we do know are gone? For all we know, they may be operatives, getting pulled back by whatever organization had them infiltrate our government in the first place.”   
“That option has been considered but it seems unlikely.”  
“Why?” Angela asked dryly.   
A folder with about two inches worth of documents was pushed in front of her. “So much for saving trees,” she mumbled.  
“This is all the information that is still out there about the persons missing. Seeing everything we store digitally about this case seems to somehow get erased, we will do this assignment the old-fashioned way.”  
Angela was fine with that. Even though she worked with computers, she didn't trust them. To her, they were the ultimate tool for building a lie. Faceless. Untraceable.  
Opening the folder, the first thing that caught her eye was the list of names. Only two names were familiar but, boy, were they familiar. Geoffrey Dromgoole and Harry Palfrey. And, suddenly, everything made sense. Geoffrey really was the rat within Whitehall. He would do just about do anything, including selling out his queen and country for the right price... Anything but defect, really, because that would mean leaving his cushy seat… Just like Miss Allen. In fact... the woman that “had known the missing colleague intimately”... that had been her. There had been rumours about Miss Allen and Geoffrey for years. So that was what you needed to do, If you wanted to have unlimited resources at your disposal. Kidnap the Permanent Secretary's lover. Perhaps the ice queen had a heart after all. Or perhaps she was just trying to save her own skin.  
Poor Harry, though. His heart had mostly been in the right place, but he was weak. Easily blackmailed or coerced. Doing the right thing in the end mattered little when the damage had already been done. He wasn't the man to just disappear though. The poor man wouldn't have known where to start. If he had been going to do something like that, Angela would have been his first port of call. So that meant he was likely dead. And, by the worried look on Miss Allen's face, so was her dear Geoffrey. The thought gave Angela an odd feeling of satisfaction, but she quickly pushed it away. Despise him as she might, she should not rejoice in a man's disappearance and possible death. The case intrigued her. Frightened her too, she didn't know about the other names on the list, but she knew Geoffrey had always thought himself untouchable. Well, except for that one time. Which was the reason Angela was still working here. Keep your friends close and your emenies closer. Geoffrey feared her, feared what she knew, and had decided to keep her where he could keep an eye on her. Which went both ways. If he was now missing, Angela wanted to know what was going on.  
Her curiosity had been raised. Dammit, she was gonna take this case.


	2. Chapter 2

There was a man standing on the top of the cliff Tess was driving towards. Behind him, the sky was bright blue and there was the rise and fall of the most idyllic-looking coastline that Tess had ever seen. Out in the bay, there were little boats dotted about, glistening in the sunlight, and a flock of seagulls finished the picture. It should have been a postcard, really. In fact, by the looks of it, there probably was a picture of this view in the local village shop, with the words 'Greetings from the Cornwall coast' on it.  
In the car with Tess was her boss Angela Burr, together with Angela's husband Leonard and little daughter Sadie. This was supposed to be a business meeting, but Angela had brought her family along, claiming she didn't just want to leave them for two days if it wasn't necessary. So they had made a holiday out of it. And, upon arriving here, Tess couldn't blame her.  
Working for Angela was different from anything Tess had ever experienced. To Angela, family came first. Luckily, her colleagues were like family too, and Angela was more like Tess's mom than her boss. It was nice to be cared for... and probably good news as well, considering those disappearances. Angela would definitely notice if she or Rob did not show up one day. Tess had gotten flu in her first month, and Angela had been by with soup to check if she was alright. What boss did that? It was like coming home... Better than coming home even... Tess's home life had never been this rosy, with two parents that just fought over custody to spite each other. Their daughter's feelings had never been a priority  
It was weird, and it wasn't what Tess had expected when she had joined Whitehall. Maybe her expectations had been unrealistic. It was far less exciting than she had figured. Terror plots were not discovered on a daily basis, thank heavens – else the real world would be unlivable. There was still plenty of gruesome stuff, though, and Tess had a feeling that she was barely scratching the surface of it.  
Maybe that was why the agency was set up like a living room. There was huge couch and a fire that so far had always been roaring. Rob insisted on that, claiming their previous property had always been cold and damp. There were offices leading off the room – one for each of them – but neither Rob nor Angela ever used theirs, and even Tess only went there occasionally. Rob had his window seat, where he kept an eye on the outside world, as well as on the screens in front of him, whilst Angela had her own comfy chair. People would come in to talk to her in this informal setting, like friends coming round for a cuppa, only discussing matters of life and death. It was absolutely surreal, sometimes.  
“Who says you can't mix business and pleasure,” Angela said, rolling down her window and sticking her hand out to wave to the man on the cliff top, who reacted by immediately jogging down to meet them. As he neared the car, Tess stopped, seeing he looked like he was about to jump the bonnet. Angela immediately got out and hugged the man.  
“Jonathan, you are looking good,” she said as she wrapped her arms round him.  
Tess decided this was as good a place to park as any, seeing the road changed into a sandy footpath, and there was a little bay where she could move the car to.  
“So are you. And wonderful to finally meet the rest of the Burrs. Good afternoon, sir,” he greeted the man on the back seat. Mr Burr came out, followed by an energetic little girl that had been sitting still for far too long and now wanted nothing more than run. A little uncoordinated, though, she nearly fell over, and Tess gasped as she lunged for her, but 'Jonathan' caught her immediately and swept her up in his arms.  
“Hello little miss. I haven't seen you since you were still in your mother's tummy. How lovely to finally meet you.” He picked her up with ease and let her fly around, much to the girl's delight. She squealed, before finally landing safely in her father's arms.  
Angela patted his shoulder. “I see you lost nothing of your charm.”  
“I like children. They are honest with the world around them.”  
Tess was starting to feel very much as a third wheel here, or more like a fifth. She wondered what she was doing here, as she got her overnight bag from the boot. They were supposed to stay with this guy tonight. He was living in the local lighthouse apparently, though she couldn't see it from this point... Weren't those places supposed to stand out for miles?  
Jonathan joined her, getting the other suitcases from the boot, with an ease that would make the average bell boy envious.“Hello... I'm Jonathan... Potts. And you are?” The small hesitation made her wonder if Potts really was his name. Then again, lots of people used aliases in their line of work.  
“Tess Newman.” She didn't know how, but he managed to shake her hand, even though he was carrying two suitcases and a very large and heavy bag that contained Sadie's toys.  
“Are you the nanny?” he asked  
That hurt. “No! … I'm Angela's colleague,” she snapped out of reflex. It was hard to be taken serious, looking as young as she was. That sometimes worked in her advantage, but more then often, it did not.  
“Oh sorry... You just look quite young. And I didn't know Angela was bringing anyone else along.”  
“Sorry, Jonathan. I know you like it here, but I can't come down every time we need to update you. So meet Tess, your new contact,” Angela explained.  
“Well, hello Tess. And again, sorry for the confusion,” he smiled apologetically.  
Tess didn't know what else to do except smile back. She didn't exactly look professional either in her shorts and sandals. Angela had briefed her about Jonathan today – he was an old contact of hers turned IT specialist... Which was a fancy word for hacker, but then for the good guys... probably. He was a 'freelance agent' and that basically meant he could sell his information to whomever he so liked. Angela seemed to trust him, though.  
Tess herself had been pulled into this operation at the last minute – Friday afternoon to be exact – as Angela had asked her what she was doing this weekend and if she would like a trip to the seaside. It was a strange request, but Tess hadn't really wondered about it much, seeing how kind Angela had been towards her so far. The weather was lovely, and it wasn't like Tess had much of a personal life, so she had agreed. The fact that this wasn't just a grand day out had only become clear when Angela had 'briefed' her in the car during the five-hour drive out here, as Leonard kept Sadie busy on the back seat. “Len knows everything. I want him to put on a full scale if I ever go missing,” Angela had confessed, as Leonard grabbed his wife's hand and kissed it. Tess had been moved by that, as well as saddened as she realised no one outside her colleagues would miss her if she disappeared tomorrow – not even a cat.  
She was now walking along the long sandy path, through the scrubs, until they opened up to a rocky cliff and the quaintest lighthouse she had ever seen. It was beautiful.  
“Welcome to my home,” Jonathan said, still carrying all their luggage. “There is a little sandy beach for Sadie to play on that's about a ten-minute walk in that direction... I will take you there in a minute.”  
Angela clasped her hands.“Oh Jonathan, it's gorgeous. You and Jed must be very happy here.”  
A pained expression crossed Jonathan's face. “Jed and I aren't together any more.”  
“Really? I'm so sorry to hear that. You made a lovely couple.”  
“We just weren't right for each other. Different goals. Too much baggage... Let me make you a cup of tea.” It was clear he wanted to change the subject.  
“This place has internet?” Tess asked surprised. It had to be one of the remotest places in the country, not counting the isles.  
“Broadband. I had it installed especially, which cost quite a lot of hassle. I can connect you to it later, if you are willing to hand over your computer. I have quite a security protocol in place, so it's not possible to just log in.”  
“I will think about it. Must have cost you a pretty penny to get it all the way out here.” And computer experts made good money... but to afford all this?  
He didn't owe her an explanation but she still got one... of sorts.“I came into a large sum of money a few years ago. So I decided to invest it wisely.”  
“An inheritance?” She shouldn't have been asking, but something just didn't feel right.  
“Of sorts..” His eyes shifted between the two ladies. There was something he wasn't telling, and it was like he was asking Angela for permission.  
He didn't get it. “Jonathan gave most of it to charity, didn't you?” Angela patted his shoulder.  
Jonathan shifted uncomfortably.“It didn't feel right to keep it. It still doesn't. But at least I am doing something useful with it like this.”  
Now Tess felt really curious, but it really wasn't her place to ask. The feeling it gave was unpleasant, especially because she was a spy. She wanted to know what was going on – that was her nature.  
“And that's why I called you… Len, maybe you should take Sadie down to that beach now.” It meant they were going to talk business now. And even though Leonard might know everything, one never knew what little girls could accidentally slip out.  
Jonathan gave Leonard directions to the beach – they were really rather straightforward in the end.“I have a picnic basket for you prepared in the kitchen with lemonade and sandwiches. I'll just get it now.”  
“I see you haven't lost your touch for taking care of guests. You really are most generous, Jonathan. I'm surprised you didn't end up running a B&B instead.”  
Jonathan shook his head. “I could never handle guests 24/7. I need my private time. That was the exact reason I was a night manager. Yes, you get requests, but most of the time it's quiet, and you are working there by yourself.”  
“And now you sit here alone, night after night behind your computer, searching for secrets,” Angela laughed.  
He smiled again.“Don't worry, that's not all I do. I still get out from time to time. In fact, I have a boat lying here in the bay. I thought maybe tomorrow I could take you all sailing. I even got a life jacket for Sadie.”  
“Jonathan! You are making me regret handing over this assignment to Tess now,” Angela punched his shoulder amicably.  
The story was getting stranger by the minute, and Tess couldn't help this sneaky suspicion that something was off, even though she could not put her finger on it. Jonathan Potts, or whatever his name was, was nothing like the man she had imagined him to be. She had had imagined him older, and a lot less virile. Yes, he wore glasses, but that seemed to be the only geeky thing about this guy, who looked more like an outdoorsy type. This place, in the middle of nowhere, was meticulously clean, like you expected from a regimented man, not one that stayed up at night to discover the secrets of the dark web, or whatever it was he did exactly. But Angela Burr trusted him completely, and that was it, really. He did seem genuinely kind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rosie: Thank you, and here he is.  
> PineGirl: Thanks. I couldn't really wait for season 2 so this is what one does when one loves to write, lol


End file.
